Three's Company
by horrorphile
Summary: Carol and Eugene plan on a run to the mountains. Daryl demands that he go with them. Eugene plays matchmaker in his own Eugene way.


Carol listened to Eugene prattle on about power supply. Apparently they needed two more of whatever component they had gotten on the run that Noah and Aidan had been killed. Tara had been injured in that one too. Finally she interrupted, "Where can we find the parts you need?"

Eugene began, "There is a windmill farm in the West Virginia mountains that supplied power to Washington DC. I have calculated the distances and extrapolated that it will take four hours to get there. The area was sparsely populated before this so one can logically assume there will be less walkers than a densely populated area."

 _A month ago we were knee deep in walkers and wolves. Now we have a looming electrical failure and the Saviors. I need a vacation._ "I'll go with you. Maybe we can get Aaron to go with us. He knows the roads better than anyone in Alexandria. Let's go talk to Aaron right now." She turned around and bumped into Daryl who was frowning at her.

"You ain't going. It's too dangerous." Daryl glared at her. Carol glared back. He might mean well but his bossy attitude was not appreciated _. It wasn't like Alexandria is all that damn safe and it wasn't like Daryl Dixon is my boss. I'll go if I want to go._

Eugene looked nervous, "I'll find someone more appropriate to go with me, Daryl. You are absolutely correct. It is too dangerous for Carol."

Carol gave him a look of disgust, "Man up, Eugene." She turned to Daryl, "I'm going. Aaron can lead us there. It's a quick grab and go kind of deal. Alexandria can't make it without electricity. It powers the water, lights, and the heating systems. I'm going to go talk to Aaron. We could go this morning and be home by dark." _Daryl is still angry because I moved out of the house three days ago._

"If you go then I'm going. I've been over that way with Aaron. Grab your run bag and we'll go. Or stay here and I'll take Aaron." Daryl sounded pissed. _Way to take over, Daryl._

 **Three hours later**

Carol was driving and Daryl was riding shotgun. Eugene was sitting in the second row seat navigating. Daryl had been pouting for most of the trip. She had taken possession of the driver's seat and he kept complaining about her driving. "You're driving too fast. Might run into a herd any second."

"You and Rick managed to lose a car, and then a truck loaded with supplies on a run a couple of days ago. So don't tell me how to drive." Carol slowed down a bit though. Just to enjoy the view. The mountains were starting to show a little fall color. Not much but more than in Alexandria. The few houses that they could see from the road looked empty.

Eugene looked at the map. "We're leaving the national forest in a few minutes, and then we're going to be going by a state park. Then another ten miles and we are at the warehouse. We've made good time."

Carol gave Daryl a smirk, "Must be my superior driving." _I'm actually in a good mood. I guess I needed a road trip._

"The driving is the easy part. The hard part will be to find the place and get the parts." Daryl snarked back.

Daryl insisted that they park a good distance away from the warehouse. "I'm going to go scout the place out. Stay here."

He was back in twenty minutes. "There is a strong chain link fence and no walkers on the outside. That don't mean the place isn't polluted with them. We can drive in though."

Carol stopped at the gate and Daryl hopped out and used the bolt cutters to open the gate. He closed it back but didn't lock it. Carol made a wide circle on the parking lot to see if the truck's motor had attracted some notice. She parked away from the door. It was always best to leave some distance between you and whatever might be behind a door.

The steel building was surrounded by pavement but there wasn't any vehicles parked out front. No windows but the steel roof had several light colored panels. They should provide enough light to be able to navigate their way through. The door was locked but Daryl jimmied the door and then stepped back. He pounded on the steel door a few times and then waited for a reaction. Then he opened the door and called out, "Come and join the party." Then he waved them over.

"Stay behind me. Be ready." Carol and Eugene had their machetes out. Daryl saw an office on one side of the door. He opened that door but nothing moved.

Eugene let his eyes adjust to the dim light. Daryl looked at Carol, "Stay here at the door. Make sure nothing is coming in behind us." She nodded. _I have your back._

The two men moved out of sight. They were gone for at least ten minutes and then reappeared with some boxes. Eugene was smiling, "This place is a veritable treasure trove of electrical supplies. We should load up the truck with as much as we can haul."

Carol moved the truck to the door and they began loading. It took longer than a grab and go because Eugene wanted to get parts that were hard to find. Clouds were coming in and it looked as if it was going to rain. Daryl found some thick plastic sheeting to cover the contents of the truck.

Daryl was losing patience with Eugene. "What the hell is he doing? Probably gathering parts to make him a robot woman. We need to get out of here now. Getting late. Gonna storm. We're going to have to find a place to stay tonight."

Carol tried to motivate Eugene, "We have what we need. Let's go."

But the pudgy genius held his own, "This is my area of expertise. We are bringing back a decade or more of electrical supplies. This is what I can do to keep Alexandria a beacon of light. I must bow to the greater good."

Carol sighed, "Let him alone Daryl. Eugene knows what he is doing." _Can there be any two men less alike than Daryl and Eugene but both are good men._

Finally Eugene had the truck loaded. Daryl jumped into the driver's seat and smirked at her. Carol rolled her eyes. _Whatever, Daryl._

There were three walkers at the gate and Daryl shot a look at Carol, "Stay in the truck." He opened the gate, put down two walkers and was getting ready to stick the last walker when Carol used her machete to split the skull of a particularly wasted looking walker that had wandered behind Daryl. She wiped her blade clean and walked back to the truck.

Daryl followed her to the truck, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Carol answered. _Stubborn man._ "Maybe we could try that state park. There are usually cabins or houses to rent."

The state park had a large stone lodge and an overgrown golf course. Daryl took an access road to the cabin area. They weren't particularly large but Carol saw that the windows were covered with plywood. Daryl found one that was almost hidden from the road and parked facing the road in the back of the cabin. It had begun to rain steadily. It wasn't dark yet but it was time to get into a shelter for the night.

Daryl used the pry bar to force the back door open and they took a quick sweep of the two bedroom cabin. Carol found a couple of buckets in the kitchen and began to collect rainwater for the commode and to boil for drinking water. Daryl carried in armloads of firewood while Eugene fiddled with a propane cooking stove. Eugene and Daryl moved the unused refrigerator in front of the back door. Carol used the stove to make a hot meal of packaged pasta and coffee. Between the cold rain and the coming night it was turning colder outside and the chill seeped into this long deserted cabin.

They ate in front of the fireplace and then relaxed in the warmest spot in the cabin. Carol found herself smiling as she looked at Eugene who seemed surprisingly content to sit on a rocking chair by the fire. Daryl was cleaning the weapons they had used today on the dusty sofa beside her. The rain pounding against the metal roof was oddly comforting and for once Carol wasn't looking for something else to keep her busy.

It was the perfect romantic scenario she mused. A man and a woman stranded in a cabin in a remote location during a storm. All they needed was to find a bottle of wine to loosen their libido and to lose Eugene. No romantic scenario could maintain the sexual tension with Eugene in the room. Not that there was sexual tension in the room. Sexual tension and Eugene just don't go together.

They talked though. Daryl talked about Hilltop Farm and how they lived as if it were centuries ago, "Don't know why they are still living in FEMA trailers though. They could build log cabins like this one that would be more comfortable."

Eugene wanted to add to their solar arrays. "We can get more panels. Alexandria is going to grow and we'll need to have more electricity. Someday our Alexandria will rival the ancient Egyptian Alexandria. We're not going to lose the technological advances of the last two centuries."

The other two looked at her as if they expected her to contribute to the conversation. "Alexandria needs to build a teaching hospital. One that uses natural medicines because we won't be able to produce the ones we have right now. Maybe we can show other communities how to build their own electrical systems. Maybe using water or wind. Maybe they can show us how to grow food and make our own clothes. Survive together or die alone." Daryl looked up and smiled at her. They both had loved the television show "Lost".

It was as pleasant an evening as Carol could remember but they would leave in the morning at first light. _How many places have we stayed one night and moved on?_

Eugene plundered through his run bag and brought out a couple of candles. He lit them and set them on the mantle. "I'll take the smaller bedroom and leave the larger one for you two. I want you to know that my voyeurism is in my misspent past. I will not peek into your bedroom in the despicable hope that I might glimpse the two of you engage in sexual intercourse. I will plug my ears so that I can't hear your sighs and moans of pleasure. I admire you two too much to trespass on your intimacies."

Carol laughed. _What the hell?_ She sneaked a look at Daryl. He was turning purple and at his age that wasn't a good look.

Daryl finally gasped, "What in the hell are you talking about Eugene?"

Eugene sat down in the rocking chair again. "I am cognizant that while you keep your relationship private, your bond is so obvious, your ability to communicate without words so apparent, and the depth of your mutual love is revealed in your tender concern for another. So please know that it is my most sincere wish that one day I may find my soul mate as you have."

 _This just keeps getting better and better. Daryl has started to breathe again so I won't have to remember how to do CPR._

Daryl put his weapon down. "Go ahead Eugene. How will you know that you've found your soul mate?" _Daryl, don't make fun of him. He's serious. Eugene isn't a bad guy though that voyeur thing was creepy._

"I'm a solitary man. I wander around this desolate landscape alone. I have a hypothesis totally unsupported by empirical evidence." Eugene paused. "Just a romantic notion, I'm afraid."

 _He seems so sad_ , "Tell us about your romantic notion." Carol leaned toward Eugene and Daryl leaned back against the sofa intent on Eugene.

"Are you familiar with resonant frequency? Every object has a resonant frequency. See this cup." He held up his coffee cup. "It has a particular frequency, a pitch that makes it vibrate, move up and down, and echo. It is my romantic notion that the phenomenon called "Falling in love" is actually the result of two like objects coming into contact. Their resonant frequency is so close that it causes a reaction in both of them. They are attracted to the other because they are their other half. They are not complete unless they are together. They can't hear the pitch of their resonant frequency but they sense it in the deepest part of their soul. That is why they are called soul mates." Eugene stood up, "Enough of this nonsense. I am going to go to my room. I always have a book in my run bag and I will be profitably engaged until the morning." He picked up one of the candles and left the room. Carol could hear him walking down the hall.

Daryl got up and put another piece of wood on the fire. He sat back down closer to Carol. "I hope Eugene finds his soul mate. That thing he said about being a solitary man. I know how that feels. He's a decent person and he did promise not to trespass on our intimacies." He squirmed in his seat and continued, "I want to apologize for being an asshole when you said that you were moving out. I was hurt and that made me angry. I didn't want you to go."

 _Time to be honest_ , "The house was too crowded. You didn't have to be a weather man to know which way the wind was blowing. Rick and Michonne were drifting together. I am glad that they are together but I didn't think they needed an audience. And I wanted my own place. I thought you might decide to come with me and maybe even Morgan." _Not so much Morgan, but I don't want Daryl to think I am trying to trap him._

"You never asked me if I wanted to move with you. You just announced you were leaving." _He is still pissed._

"Daryl, sometimes you have to make the first move. You just walked out and didn't talk to me for days." _I'm not going to baby you. Man up._

He bit his lip and shifted uncomfortably, "I would like to move into your house. Would that be alright with you?"

"That would be fine. It's a big house, but I'm not going to spend my free time cooking and cleaning. I want to paint and read and take long walks." _Daryl is smiling at me. There may be an actual sighting of his teeth. Not just a grimace masquerading as a smile._

"Do we have to have Morgan? You two are oil and water. More like gasoline and a lit match." _Living with two men. There goes my soccer mom persona._

Carol smiled at him, "I'm sorry I was so bitchy to you today, but I'm not sorry that I went on this trip. I'm scared, really scared about this fight with the Saviors. Daryl, are we ever going to find a sanctuary?"

He put his arm around her, "I could have squashed this run or made sure that Aaron went and you stayed home. I understand that you need a break from Alexandria once in a while. Maybe we only get a sanctuary for a little bit of time. I feel right now as if I'm in a safe place. Just sitting here watching your face in the candlelight. I don't need anything more than that as long as Eugene stays in his room."

Daryl moved closer to her and Carol tried to resist the need to be closer to him. He should be saying "Stop" or making an excuse to leave. Daryl shouldn't be so close that she could feel his breath on her neck and his leg against hers. He wiped his hands on his pants and she could see that they were shaking. _He's nervous. Or maybe we are just close enough so that our resonant frequency is making us vibrate._

She turned to him and he kissed her. Very gently as if he was afraid of hurting her. Carol returned the kiss with equal tenderness. They kissed and cuddled until the fire in the hearth burned low and then they went into the other room and spread the rough blankets that they found in a closet on the bed.

They undressed and crawled into the bed as if they did that every night of their life. _Eugene caused this to happen. He put it into words and that made it real._

Daryl was both graceful and generous in bed. He always moved with catlike grace and he brought that to their bed. She had involuntarily tensed when he shifted himself above her. His cock eager to enter her and she wanted that too. "We don't have to do this." His voice thick with desire but his willingness to give her the choice to stop took away her last doubt.

"Don't stop. I'm ready." He slid in easily as if they were made for each other and Daryl gave a low moan of pleasure, "Hope he has those ear plugs in".

They made love again as if to prove to themselves that it really was that good between them.

Daryl drove the next morning. The rain had stopped in the night and they made it back to Alexandria safely. The war wagon (doesn't every army go to war in an RV?) was ready and Daryl and Carol were soon on their way to a new adventure. They sat beside each other on the narrow RV couch and Carol thought that if you listened very carefully you could hear the faint echo of their resonant frequencies.

AN

 **Waiting for Carol to show back up is excruciating. So just a little story in which Eugene acts as matchmaker. Nothing serious. I didn't write baring her soul to Daryl. (She bared everything else though, just saying). Just stayed with the fluff and stuff.**

 **Review?**


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